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So I decided to hit Waughop with my buddy LMBDave after going down to Cabelas to get some new goodies and buy my dad a Father's Day present.

We get to the lake and I'm just dying to try out my new Swimbait. When I made the trip down from Mountlake Terrace, I forgot all of my swimbaits at home except for one. But it was THE ONE so that's all that mattered. It was a Spro BBZ1 Shad Swimbait.

So I get to the lake and I'm debating putting on my Hatcam. My goal for this year was to catch a 5 lb + Bass on a Swimbait and catch it on camera. This was a very ambitious goal because I've never caught a 5 lb Largemouth before and I've never caught a bass on a Swimbait before either.

So I make my very first cast and within 10 cranks, there is an explosion at the surface from a Hawg darting after my swimbait. After a few cranks I feel the weight of it and set the hook, FISH ON!! I yell out I GOT ONE!!! My buddy dave who was walking over to another spot runs back because he heard the explosion even before I said anything. Immediately, I feel the strength of this fish, my Adrenaline is Coursing Through My Veins, my Heart is pounding away at a million miles an hour and I am just doing my best to keep pressure on the fish and bring him in. The fight lasted about a minute or so but this Hawg was pulling hard and ripping out drag like it was nobody elses business. My buddy Dave gets a look at it before and he's like OHHH and this makes me anxious to see what's on the end of my line. I get it close to shore and see this beast and I just shout out OMG!!! It jumps a few times and I see my swimbait dangling out of it's mouth and I am just praying that the hook doesn't come out. Then I get it on shore, lip it and scream YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! OMG THAT'S A 5 LBER FOR SURE!!!

I weigh the fish and sure enough it's a 5 lb + Largemouth.
5 lb 10 oz to be exact!!

So my buddy snaps a couple pics for me and we let her go, didn't keep her out of the water for very long at all. As I'm releasing here Dave is like wait wait!! But it was too late. He was gonna ask if I wanted a picture of it's belly because it had a huge gut and I try to grab the fish but it darts off.

This is where my adrenaline rush, my happiness and overall good mood sinks.
I didn't get a good picture of it's massive gut. But worst of all, I didn't capture this amazing experience on camera. My camera and hat were in my tackle bag, and it would have only taken me abotu 30 seconds to set up. But I was too anxious to fish and told myself I probably wouldn't catch one right away anyways. This is undeniably my biggest mistake and regret in my entire life regarding fishing. If I just had the patience to spend less than a minute to set up and put on my hatcam, I would have achieved my goal for the year. I only achieved 2/3 of my goal so I still failed.

Also, I moved spots right after, and make a HORRIBLE backhand cast with my baitcaster, it goes the distance I want it to but at a bad angle. I tried to yank it back and my swimbait goes flying into the bushes. I didn't have my rod with my 50 lb Power Pro Braid so I couldn't just muscle it out. I had 14 lb Fluorocarbon that snapped off. So to add insult to injury, not only did I not catch my biggest bass and first swimbait bass on film, I lost the 20 dollar swimbait too. Dare I say FML?

Anyways... So after that we move to the next spot and Dave gets a bite but it doesn't take the whole thing. I wasn't sure exactly where his line was at when he got the bite and make a cast towards a laydown. I get a hit but I miss it too. I make another cast and let it sink while I take a couple seconds to turn on my hatcam. A couple twitches and FISH ON! I fight the fish to shore and land it. I'm thinking 2.5 to 3 lbs but when I weighed it, I was pleasantly surprised. It was 3 lb 15 oz!! I was so excited and caught up in the moment that I didn't even take pictures of it and let it go. I was even more disappointed at this point.

We move to another spot and I am throwing a ton of lures from Spinner Baits to Buzz Baits, Shallow Cranks to Lipless Cranks, Jigs to Chatter Baits but the Jerk Bait is what produced for it. I make a few casts and get a hit. I set the hook and Fish On!! It wasn't a dink but I was still super excited and happy because it was the first fish I have ever caught on a Jerk Bait. I didn't bother weighing it because I knew that it was about 1 lb or so just looking at it.

Dave ended up catching a 1.5 that day.

_________________________________

In an attempt to get my swimbait back, me and Dave went back the next day. Unfortunately there was no line trail to even begin to find my lure so it was a lost cause.

To make this report more brief, Dave caught another 1.5 lber and a 3 lber.
I caught a dink half lber or so and a 1lb 9 oz Largemouth.

Last year, I think Dave only caught 2 and I only caught 1. We only went to Waughop a couple times last year. We've only gone twice this year and and caught several more fish and better fish. When we went last year, we were total beginners to Bass Fishing. Now we've learned a lot even though we will have tons to learn.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that fishing only gets better with time and experience. Learn as much as you can from whoever you can, whenever you can, and wherever you can. If you have goals you haven't achieved yet, aim for the sky and keep trying. Before I started Bass fishing last year, my biggest was probably only 6 or 7 inches off the bridge at Steilacoom. After about 1 year, my personal best is now a 5 lb 10 oz. It can only get better right? :)

The first pic is 2 pics that were taken from my camera.
The second pic (bad quality) are 2 pics taken from Dave's phone, sent to my phone, then uploaded to FB. If you look closely, you will see that the scale reads 5 lb 10 oz. No fudging of weight here :)

This is Elijah.Loves.Fishin signing off.

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/20/2011 1:30:00 PM

Just FYI to anyone who reads this report. By signing off I mean this will be my last and final report. I had a section at the top explaining why but it got removed xD. It was good while it lasted, I enjoyed meeting some of the folks on here and I'm sure I'll continue some friendships. But farewell everyone, tight lines!

Amx

6/20/2011 1:32:00 PM

Congrats. The second half of the first picture shows the belly pretty good. I have a BBZ1 and plan on trying it some time this summer. I haven't even thrown a swimbait yet, someday.

returnofthefish

6/20/2011 3:59:00 PM

Thanss for the report That sucs that your not gonna post anymore. I enjoyed your reports and videos on youtube

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/20/2011 4:16:00 PM

oh btw, i do have some footage on youtube, just not the 5 lber :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9JvdrhfHE0&feature=channel_video_title

stevenjf3

6/20/2011 4:25:00 PM

Can you please tell me where Waughop Lake is located at. I have never heard of it.

Thanks

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/20/2011 4:31:00 PM

google maps..

JS

6/20/2011 6:31:00 PM

Nice job on the bass! May I ask why you will not be posting anymore?

dresscode5

6/20/2011 9:08:00 PM

Hell of a largie sir. Well done!

fishingmachine

6/20/2011 9:53:00 PM

Nice fish.

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/20/2011 10:07:00 PM

@ youshhucks - thanks bro! i can send you a pm to answer your question, it got removed from my report :P

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/20/2011 10:07:00 PM

@ dresscode5 - thanks man! i was totally jealous when you landed that 5 lber at log boom! I finally got my first 5 lber! :)

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/20/2011 10:08:00 PM

@ fishingmachine - thanks a lot! :) hopefully i'll get a chance to fish with you one of these days!

dresscode5

6/20/2011 10:15:00 PM

I just doubled back to show my wife your fish... WTF? Send me that PM if you don't mind. Regardless, welcome to what my friends and I call ''5 pound fever''!

The Quadfather

6/20/2011 11:05:00 PM

Elijah, Congrats! Very nice fish and story. You know what.... you lost your 20 dolla swim bait. Big deal. (-: You got some great memories on that fish!

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/20/2011 11:06:00 PM

thanks chris! i'm more upset about not getting it on film and accomplishing my goal than i am losing the 20 dollar swim bait. the strike and the fight was awesome and would have made amazing footage! but at the same time, it's the most expensive lure i've lost so far D:

loomis vs bass

6/20/2011 11:40:00 PM

Good all catch there E. Very nice to see bass fever is kiking well!!

pika206

6/20/2011 11:58:00 PM

Glad you got your "fish" this year. I'm sure there will be another and another and another. Then it's time to go for Tiger Muskie? Or the even rarer fresh water Halibut.

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/21/2011 6:37:00 AM

@ loomisfoo - thanks!! oh it's kickin hard alright :D

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/21/2011 6:38:00 AM

@pika206 - LOL :) yes indeed, the mighty fresh water halibut that supposedly roams log boom park HAHAHA

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/21/2011 6:39:00 AM

@ c17hydro - i don't post fishing reports on any other sites, only on washingtonlakes, which i am no longer going to post on. how about you not assume that there is only one elijah online that posts fishing reports? i don't keep anything i catch and that's a fact not a lie.

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/21/2011 10:53:00 AM

@ big ups - i deleted your last comment to save you a warning from the admins. you can bring your own cooler when you go to log boom. i never bring one and even if i did, i wouldn't share it with someone like you.

N E 1 FISSION

6/21/2011 6:12:00 PM

Elijah, sorry to see you not going to post anymore. I have been turning my friends on this website to specifically read your posts, everyone's loss. You were so educational with everything you've done on your most recent trips, I learned quite abit, and am so very grateful for meeting you and you explaining the dropshot tecnique, thank you. Best of luck in all your endeavors,...

c17hydro

6/22/2011 1:35:00 AM

Well, if ELF reads this or anyone else that thinks highly of him and knows him well, I am big enough to apology to the fisherman. Just weird how that info was posted and if I was ELF I would stomp the guy who is posting under my name. My apologies to Elijah.

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/22/2011 9:17:00 AM

@ ne1fission - thanks man, we'll get out there and fish some more and get you on more fish :D

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/22/2011 9:18:00 AM

@ c17hydro - it just says elijah.. i'm not the only person named elijah that fishes.. people are gonna think what they want regardless what anyone says. so if they want to mistake that guy for me, they can be wrong and that their own bad..

rl206

6/22/2011 10:40:00 AM

Good fish man

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

6/22/2011 11:02:00 AM

@ rl206 - thanks man :) hope to get more like it!

Mike Carey

6/22/2011 6:42:00 PM

and with that, let's close this discussion...

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